For the first time ever since it took over investigating the cash-for-jobs scam in Bengal, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) named Trinamul Congress MP and party’s national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee as one who continues to have links with one of the companies "used for making dubious transactions running into crores of rupees”.
In a formal communication handed out by the ED on Tuesday, a day after it conducted search operations across three offices of Leaps and Bounds – a company operated by the now-arrested scam suspect Sujay Krishna Bhadra alias "Kalighater Kaku"– in connection with the recruitment scam, the agency claimed it “recovered and seized various incriminating documents and digital evidence”.
“Abhishek Banerjee, MP from TMC is the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of M/s Leaps and Bounds Private Limited and was also a director in the company from April 2012 to January 2014”, the agency stated.
The agency’s claim that the Trinamul leader continues to remain at the helm of affairs at the company suspected of being a conduit to the scam which allegedly runs into several thousand crores led to a bitter war of words between Banerjee and his arch rival in the state BJP camp Suvendu Adhikari over social media platform X (formerly Twitter) in which the latter attempted sounding prophetic while he stated, “Time is running out for you, use it judiciously”.
Banerjee has all along claimed that he had severed ties with the company since he resigned as director much ahead of the period during which the recruitment irregularities were suspected to have started taking place.
Tweeting a still grab of Adhikari holding something in his hands from the Narada bribery sting operation, Banerjee posted while tagging the ED top brass: “I hope this pic is SUFFICIENT to stir YOUR CONSCIENCE! May I inquire as to when are you walking to the offices of the investigating agencies @dir_ed?”
That was in response to Adhikari’s earlier tweet where the leader posted a picture of the ED release and scripted his sharp jibe: “I would like to refresh someone's memory, who keeps repeating that he would voluntarily walk to the gallows and hang himself if the agencies find any evidence of wrongdoing against him; the people of WB aren't bothered about your shenanigans, no need to walk to the gallows, just walk to the Offices of the investigating agencies and cooperate. I hope this is enough to prod your conscience.”
Adhikari took little time to post his retort to Banerjee’s veiled appeal to Adhikari’s conscience. Posting pictures of TMC leaders Sougata Roy, Firhad Hakim and Kakali Dastidar from the same sting operation, Adhikari wrote: “Why don't you ask your beloved uncle Firhad Hakim, grand-uncle Sougata Roy & aunty Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar about this? They seem to be better placed to reply to your query. The image shared by you only shows me holding newspaper, but what I have shared, read it properly, it says during the search operations, various incriminating documents & digital evidence were recovered in connection with M/s Leaps and Bounds Pvt Ltd; a company wherein you were the Director from April 2012 to January 2014; the company which made dubious transactions running into crores of Rupees. Moreover, who are the current Directors? Time is running out for you, use it judiciously.”
“It’s my open challenge to the @dir_ed and @PMOIndia to take action against all FIR named accused in #NARADA starting with YOU! Also, attaching the video just so this visual evidence serve as a resounding reminder of your inherent shamelessness, both in the past and eternally,” responded Banerjee with a video of the sting operation showing Adhikari accepting something wrapped in a newspaper which the Narada promoters had claimed as bribe in cash.
While both leaders took sharp digs at each other, both remained careful to not directly name each other in their public spat ostensibly to avoid any legal backlash.
Interestingly, no official communication from either Banerjee or from the TMC to deny the leader’s current links with the discredited company were received till the time this report was filed.
The ED, meanwhile, referred to accused Bhadra as the erstwhile Chief Operating Officer (COO) of Leaps and Bounds and a director of the company from April 2012 to March 2016. The agency stated that it “filed 4th Supplementary Prosecution Complaint in the case on 28.07.2023 against Sujay Krishna Bhadra and others before the Hon’ble Special Court (PMLA), Kolkata. The Hon’ble Special Court took cognizance of the said Complaint on the same day i.e. 28.07.2023 after finding a prima facie case against the accused persons” and added: “The total amount of seizure and attachment in the case stands at Rs. 126.70 Crore till date.”
“ED has so far arrested 7 persons involved in the scam namely Partha Chatterjee, MLA and the then Education Minister of West Bengal; Ms. Arpita Mukherjee, Manik Bhattacharya, MLA, TMC and the Ex- President of the West Bengal Board of Primary Education, Kuntal Ghosh, Santanu Banerjee, Ayan Sil and Sujay Krishna Bhadra in the Teachers Recruitment Scam in West Bengal,” the agency communication further read.
Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee had lashed out against the ED for raiding premises and alleged that the central agencies “are regularly torturing us in our homes”.
“You are forcing your way inside premises by breaking locks and without informing anyone or keeping witnesses of your raids. There could be security issues. Who can guarantee that you are not planting explosives or weapons or cash inside,” she said during a public event at Netaji Indoor Stadium in Calcutta on Monday.
“ED raids at a bottle plant, flat and office went for 48 hours. What did ED get? Bring it in front of people, why are you not disclosing? When ED went to raid the flats of Partha Chatterjee and Arpita, without much delay they leaked the picture of heaps of cash in the media. But in this case what did they achieve? Only silently they issued a statement,” read a rebuttal to the agency’s claims from Krishanu Mitra, TMC spokesperson.
